|
| |
We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that something deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
e.e. cummings
|
|
Gratitude Box
These newsletters include a sidebar to cultivate the practice of gratefulness: for writing, for the natural world, and for all the gifts of Life.
| |
* * *
|
Gratitude Practice:
"Kindness In and Out"
Write down one kind thing about yourself.
Write down one kind thing about somebody else; tell that person how grateful you are for him or her, naming the specific kindness you wrote about that person.
Go back to the page and write another kind thing about yourself.
Watch how this cycle of gratitude grows!
|
| |
In the Client's Words
|
"I feel closer to myself when I write by hand."
|
|
Books by
Jennifer J. Wilhoit
| 
| |
Common Ground Between Crafts Collectives and Conservation
Weaving a Network
Available on Amazon or by order at your local bookstore
|
|
|
Greetings!
This issue focuses on journaling practices. While I probably have a few books of journal-focused content within me, I am keeping my newsletter a bit shorter this month so that you (and I) may spend a few extra moments today in the blessed season of outdoor ease (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere). I would be more than happy to entertain a conversation with you if you ever want to "talk journaling." My clients will tell you that this is one of my favorite topics...
Jennifer Wilhoit, Writing Mentor & Guide
TEALarbor stories
* * * *
TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, and
beauty; inform about the connection between story, the natural world, and all things writerly; and promote professional writing and guiding services.
|
|
Journaling for Life
|
I believe in journaling for life. By this, I do not necessarily mean writing everyday or every week of your entire life; we will be better carried through some seasons of our experience, though, if we have the support of an informal writing practice.
Journaling helps to plant the seeds for a healthier life by creating a spacious practice that grows us into a bigger and more rooted existence, a life in which we can be friendlier with ourselves (and thus, with others). We can learn to journal our lives onto the page, being held by the container of this practice.
One way this happens is by releasing onto the page all that life stuff that wants a home but detracts from our effectiveness during the day. We can purge concerns, difficult emotions, private matters onto the paper without fear of rejection: blessedly, writing does not judge us! Also, the paper is capable of bearing witness to anything we have to offer; this blank page acceptance is broad and unwavering. Too, the journal companions us along the journey - reminding us of markers, places we want to go, detours we might choose differently next time. The journaling practice is malleable and kind; we can make it whatever we need it to be.
I have seen small miracles occur in my own and others' lives by the pen in hand across the landscape of the open page.
|
Spotlight: Journaling as Writing Tool
|
If you currently work with TEALarbor stories, you understand something deeper about the relationship between your journaling practice and your formal writing project. If you have not yet worked with Jennifer, you might wonder how this works.
The informal journaling practice that we use to support our formal writing projects is comprised of several primary elements: frequency and duration, content, structure, and orientation. The first refers to the dailiness and length of each journal practice session. Content is not just about what the writer puts onto the page but also how s/he does so. Structure includes such practices as journaling with prompts, stream of consciousness writing, and the actual setting in which the journaling practice takes place. Finally, orientation refers to the origin of what's put on the page (i.e., emotional, spiritual, cognitive).
There are as many ways to make journaling useful as there are people to write their stories.
Please contact TEALarbor stories to learn how journaling can support your particular writing process and your specific writing project. Please send an email to Jennifer: tealarborstories@gmail.com.
|
|
Workshops & Events
| |
Second Tuesday Writing Workshops
Come prepared to write the inner/outer landscape, bringing unlined paper and pens. All Second Tuesday workshops have a limit of ten seats. Drop-ins are welcome, however your seat can't be guaranteed without pre-registration. Contact Jennifer to register or for more information: tealarborstories@gmail.com.
July 8, 2014 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM
at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street. Fee $20.
Journeys into Landscapes: Travel Journaling
Enjoy the journey of writing as you move about the world. Learn how the views of landscapes far and near can inform your writing as well as how your writing can capture the earth's beauty for others to appreciate.
August 12, 2014 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM
at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street. Fee $20.
Sustainable Earth, Sustainable Lives: Writing that Sustains
Gain insight into the connection between sustainability on the planet and sustainability in our lives. Learn how to stay in balance in order to avoid depletion, foster endurance, draw from inner resources, and experience long-term wellness in writing.
COMING SOON:
Watch next month for an announcement about an upcoming workshop: Writing on the Landscape. This half day workshop is planned for a Saturday in September. We will sit on the land, write on the land, walk solo on the land in order to feel more deeply how we are one with the land. I'm very excited to be offering this again!
|
|
News & Updates
|
Updates
The Second Tuesday Writing Workshops are growing! This is very exciting news for TEALarbor stories; it means the work is getting out into the local community.
My blog (tealarborstories.blogspot.com) has three weekly offerings: Monday Musings, Image of the Week on Wednesdays, and an extended post on Fridays. Please check out the blog each Monday for "quotes, mantras, reveries, practices offering simple ways to explore the ecotone of the inner/outer landscape." Then on Wednesdays enjoy a photo from the TEALarbor stories archives. Find experimental prose exploring inner/outer landscape experiences on Fridays.
Website Changes
The TEALarbor stories website continues its organic transformation.
Please check out the newly populated website page: Life Transition Support which details this important service offering. Also see the new monthly recaps of workshops (News & Events page), expanded services (Home page), and other interesting changes throughout the site.
Remember: if you created a bookmark for the TEALarbor stories website prior to January 2014, it will no longer take you to my site. You can click on the link just above to add a new bookmark.
In the News
Check out the member spotlight on the Napa Valley Writers website blog this past spring 2014.
See the Worldwide Who's Who VIP press release about my writing - October 2012.
|
|
| Please Support TEALarbor stories |
 Like TEALarbor stories
 Follow TEALarbor stories
 View Jennifer J. Wilhoit's profile
Read the blog: http://tealarborstories.blogspot.com
Forward this newsletter to someone you know.
Sign up for a workshop. (You do not have to be in northern California to participate; email Jennifer to learn how.)
Give TEALarbor stories' writing services, story & nature guiding ©, or life transition support to a friend or family member.
|
TEALarbor stories' mission is to support people as they discover and convey through writing their deepest stories.
The nature-based, creative processes help individuals to:
write for insight, write as rite, write for outcome.
Offering traditional writing services, story & nature guiding ©, and life transition support.
|
|
|
